Ayara, Black Purphuros EDH

Commander / EDH* Mono-Black

livingbridge123

Creature (27)

• 1x Abhorrent Overlord
• 1x Bloodghast
• 1x Bloodletter of Aclazotz
• 1x Braids, Arisen Nightmare
• 1x Carrion Feeder
• 1x Chittering Witch
• 1x Crypt Ghast
• 1x Grave Titan
• 1x Gravecrawler
• 1x Gray Merchant of Asphodel
• 1x Great Unclean One
• 1x Jadar, Ghoulcaller of Nephalia
• 1x Kalitas, Traitor of Ghet
• 1x K'rrik, Son of Yawgmoth
• 1x Lord Skitter, Sewer King
• 1x Nightmare Shepherd
• 1x Ophiomancer
• 1x Opposition Agent
• 1x Orcish Bowmasters
• 1x Sengir Autocrat
• 1x Sidisi, Undead Vizier
• 1x Veinwitch Coven
• 1x Viscera Seer
• 1x Vito, Thorn of the Dusk Rose
• 1x Xiahou Dun, the One-Eyed
• 1x Yawgmoth, Thran Physician
• 1x Zulaport Cutthroat

Planeswalker (2)

• 1x Liliana, Dreadhorde General
• 1x Tevesh Szat, Doom of Fools

Sorcery (12)

• 1x Agadeem's Awakening  ^Flip
• 1x Damnation
• 1x Demonic Tutor
• 1x Diabolic Intent
• 1x Exsanguinate
• 1x Feed the Swarm
• 1x Ghouls' Night Out
• 1x Grim Tutor
• 1x Plague of Vermin
• 1x Scheming Symmetry
• 1x Toxic Deluge
• 1x Yawgmoth's Will

Artifact (9)

• 1x Bolas's Citadel
• 1x Bontu's Monument
• 1x Extraplanar Lens
• 1x Jet Medallion
• 1x Lightning Greaves
• 1x Panharmonicon
• 1x Phyrexian Altar
• 1x Skullclamp
• 1x Throne of Eldraine

Instant (8)

• 1x Dark Ritual
• 1x Deadly Rollick
• 1x Force of Despair
• 1x Lethal Scheme
• 1x Pile On
• 1x Szat's Will
• 1x Vampiric Tutor
• 1x Waste Management

Commander (1)

Land (34)

• 1x Bojuka Bog
• 1x Cabal Coffers
• 1x Cabal Stronghold
• 1x Castle Locthwain
• 1x Deserted Temple
• 1x Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx
• 1x Phyrexian Tower
• 23x Snow-Covered Swamp
• 1x Takenuma, Abandoned Mire
• 1x Thespian's Stage
• 1x Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
• 1x Vesuva

Enchantment (7)

• 1x Biotransference
• 1x Bitterblossom
• 1x Contamination
• 1x Exquisite Blood
• 1x Gate to Phyrexia
• 1x Grave Pact
• 1x Phyrexian Reclamation

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Built to bleed the table dry, Ayara, First of Locthwain was constructed in inspiration of a friend's Purphoros, God of the Forge to apply pressure on the entire table while maintaining a healthy life total myself to either use as a resource into the finisher of Ayara, First of Locthwain + Plague of Vermin or to outlast opponents in a grinding game. Notably the deck runs a few zombie synergies so the infinite combo of Grave Crawler + Phyrexian Altar with Ayara, First of Locthwain is a viable strategy to finish off the table if a zombie creature is on field (Corpse Connoisseur is an enabler of this combo).

Notable mentions would include Contamination, a slight contrast against the land base which has been constructed to take advantage of the fact that Cabal Coffers is not a legendary land but a friend once use this analogy for it: "Contamination is like going to a car race with a boat and all the water in the pacific". Bitterblossom and Bloodghast provide insane early advantage with Ayara, First of Lotchwain with early life gain and continual fodder to her card draw ability or other such effects like it.

The natural "going wide" strategy Ayara wants complete with such token generators like Abhorrent Overlord (which is comparable to a second Gray Merchant of Asphodel within this deck), Sengir Autocrat and Chittering Witch is complemented by other cards like Yawgmoth, Thran Physician or Priest of Forgotten Gods which provides incredible card advantage and pressure on creature based synergies. Gate to Phyrexia and Feed the Swarm provide much needed tutor-able interaction with Artifacts and Enchantments that black has had in the past, which can easily be recurred with cards like Yawgmoth's Will and Xiahou Dun, the One-Eyed for use again.

A incredible pet card in the deck I want to highlight is Temporal Extortion. Whether the table yields to the extra turn or an experienced player offers half their life to counter the spell, both sides of the card help contribute greatly to the deck's game-play and being in mono-black, the CMC of the spell is no problem at all.

All in all, the deck was constructed to take advantage of every single aspect of the commander from the Devotion to the abilities on the card. It is an incredibly fun deck to pilot and constantly makes you feel like you are making an impact at the table in any games no matter the opponents you are up against. I hope this description has been help to show a little bit of insight into the ideas of this deck which had been my favourite for a long time.

Date added	4 years
Last updated	3 weeks
Key combos	Ayara, First of Locthwain + Plague of Vermin
Legality	This deck is Commander / EDH legal.
Rarity (main - side)	13 - 0 Mythic Rares 50 - 0 Rares 10 - 0 Uncommons 4 - 0 Commons
Cards	100
Avg. CMC	3.36
Tokens	Copy Clone, Faerie Rogue 1/1 B, Harpy 1/1 B, Necron Warrior 2/2 B, Orc Army, Plaguebearer of Nurgle 1/3 B, Rat 1/1 B, Rat 1/1 B w/ Can't Block, Rogue 2/2 B, Serf 0/1 B, Snake 1/1 B, Thrull 0/1 B, Zombie 2/2 B, Zombie 2/2 B w/ Decayed